ITList Information Technology Blog » Words Wordplay http://itlist.com Current IT field related information Wed, 11 Apr 2012 23:45:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Making Each Tweet Matter http://itlist.com/making-each-tweet-matter/ http://itlist.com/making-each-tweet-matter/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:50:46 +0000 SamElli http://itlist.com/?p=2176 I wrote about using Twitter to build your business interests before.  But that information is almost useless if you don’t know how to write effective tweets.  You have to know what you’re doing, and the inner workings of Twitter, in order to garner the most attention.  The biggest part of building interest and your account, is using your tweets as effectively as possible.

Building an audience isn’t so much about what you write yourself, but how you communicate.  Your Twitter account, if you’re using it to sell an idea, business, or product, needs to become a community forum.  Your tweets are only useful if you can guarantee people are reading them.  The way to do that is to build followers, and the best way to build followers is getting them involved.

Make use of Twitter’s search function.  See what people are saying involving your concepts or business, and reply to them through your page.  Ask questions, or comment on tweets that they’ve made regarding you.  Start a running dialog, so that they’ll gain more interest and also mention you on their page, which will also build interest with a new audience.

Consider how useful the ability to re-tweet really is.  By re-tweeting you draw attention to a comment someone else made, and put your own spin on the material.  This will be noticed by the original tweeter, and your audience.  Both can work to build the traffic on your page, and the more meaningful views you’ll garner.

Finally, everyone likes pictures, especially search engines.  The more pictures you use, the more people will be drawn to your page.  I’m not talking about pictures of anything.  But try to upload meaningful and visually insightful pictures that relate to your Twitter page as often as possible.  These will get more comments, and more chances for re-tweets.  Both of which are necessary to build your page.

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Putting The Finishing Touches On An Article http://itlist.com/putting-the-finishing-touches-on-an-article/ http://itlist.com/putting-the-finishing-touches-on-an-article/#comments Sat, 09 Jan 2010 08:53:19 +0000 SamElli http://itlist.com/?p=2169 So you’ve just written an article, and you’re just about to publish it, when you realize you’ve left a grammar error or two.  But then that’s extremely common, especially if you don’t take the proper editing steps once the first draft of your article is complete.  A piece is never finished until you’ve given it a good run through a few times, to clean out the errors and structure.  Here are a few tips to make an article better, once you’ve finished that first draft.

Spell check, spell check, spell check.  There’s a reason word processors come with spell checkers, take advantage of clicking that  button.  Spellchecker won’t catch everything, but it will catch some mistakes that you may have missed.  But remember to double check spellchecker, because computer spell check programs don’t factor context into it’s suggestions.  Spell check could tell you to change a word, when in fact you’ve committed no spelling error.  Which is where the next step comes in handy.

Any word you’re unsure about, don’t hesitate to look up in a dictionary.  The internet has a wealth of free dictionaries online, take full advantage.  Double check a word to make sure your usage is correct, and that your spelling is proper.

Now read through your article.  This step is most useful when you read your article aloud.  That will give you a good idea of how somebody else will be reading your article.  Check sentence structure, as well as paragraph length and make sure both flow.  If you find a sentence getting muddy, tidy it up a little as you go.  Then give a quick re-read after you’ve made your changes to ensure the article flows effectively.

From there do one last check for errors.  Usually it helps to go through your article backwards.  When you read normally there are still grammatical errors that you could miss.  By reading backwards your brain can’t make sense of a sentence, so individual words and punctuation marks will stand out more.  This way you can double check your spelling, and punctuation, and make sure all the untidy bits are properly corrected.

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How To Handle A Self Review http://itlist.com/how-to-handle-a-self-review/ http://itlist.com/how-to-handle-a-self-review/#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:38:01 +0000 SamElli http://itlist.com/?p=2110 Writing a self review is essentially part of every job.  How you handle the writing of your personal performance review, tells a lot about the job you’ve done.  Bosses gauge the way that your responses and assessments are written, in addition to what you actually write.  Most managers have a great nose for sniffing out lies and embellishments.  But mainly this gives them a great idea if you’re both on the same page, and straying too far from the company’s targets could see you replaced.

So it’s important to take time and care when writing your self review.  Allow yourself plenty of time to get the work done.  That means setting aside time everyday for a few days to work on the self evaluation.  This way you aren’t stressed, or rushing at the last minute to complete the project.  This also gives you time to go over your responses a few times, and make sure that you’re satisfied with what you’ve written.  Don’t turn in a review that you aren’t happy with.

Make sure that you’ve been compiling a list of your accomplishments, as that is a necessity for your self review.  Highlighting accomplishments accurate is a great statement in itself.  Not only do you have the great examples of your importance, but you also show your attention to detail by having the accurate records.  Both are fantastic traits magnified by the self review.

Remember to be honest when assessing the areas where you need improvement.  Nobody is infallible, and if you review suggests that you are, it’s a sham.  Your manager already knows that skills that you need to work on, and wants to see that you agree.  By being honest, and putting your actual weaknesses, you show that you are aware and are working to better yourself.  That’s what a boss wants.

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